Liverpool city region health tech venture Spotlight Pathology secures £1.4m to roll out its pioneering AI blood cancer diagnostic device. Tony McDonough reports

Health tech venture Spotlight Pathology will accelerate the commercial rollout of its AI blood cancer diagnostic device after securing £1.4m in new funding.

Based at Sci‑Tech Daresbury, Liverpool city region’s science and innovation campus, Spotlight is a University of Manchester spin‑out developing AI‑powered tools for blood cancer diagnostics.

Its flagship innovation is a lymphoma diagnostic AI device. This new cash injection  will support the transition into clinical use, with first deployments into NHS sites expected in 2026.

This latest funding round was co-led by Liverpool City Region Seed Fund and UKI2S with continued support from existing investors including River Capital, Deepbridge, Lyva Labs and EHE Ventures. 

Blood cancer pathology departments across the UK are facing sustained workforce pressures with increasing sample volumes, shortages of specialist pathologists and extended diagnostic turnaround times.

Spotlight’s AI device streamlines workflows by consolidating diagnostic steps. It presents pathologists with all relevant information in a single review session, enabling both efficiency gains and a digital second opinion.

Modelling indicates that this approach will reduce diagnostic time by around 30%, enabling clinicians to manage rising caseloads and accelerate the time to treatment for patients with aggressive cancers such as lymphoma.

Spotlight chief executive Dr Sam Perona said: “This investment comes at a critical and exciting time in Spotlight’s development as we transition our primary focus from tech development to supporting our products in clinical use.”

This investment will support commercialisation and deployment, help the firm create new technical, scientific and commercial roles over the next 12 months and progress regulatory milestones.

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Spotlight Pathology was founded in 2021 by Dr Martin Fergie, an AI specialist, and Professor Richard Byers, a consultant pathologist. It is based at the Innovation Centre at Sci-Tech Daresbury.

John Leake, business growth director at Sci-Tech Daresbury, added: “Spotlight Pathology bring together two key areas that are important for Sci-Tech Daresbury, the development and application of AI technology, alongside delivering innovation into the healthcare sector.”